Nobody really starts out loving running when we have to run "the mile" in school. Remember that? The gym teacher would make that god awful announcement and every single person would groan.
We'd run the mile and immediately act like we were severely dehydrated post-run, watching on as others haven't finished, feeling awful for the people we lapped. In that mile, we found compassion for our fellow classmate who was even more miserable than we were.
As we gulped up as much water as could quench our thirst, we got back to our friends and our school day and never looked back at those miserable 4 laps around the track.
Until we looked back.
Running was my first love. Yes, I had crushes in school and I had pets that I loved but running, undoubtedly, is my real first love. I was about 14 years old when I started out. I had been working at the local Dairy Queen and took my first real paycheck down to the shoe store in town and bought a pair of running shoes.
I remember running down the road I lived on thinking I would run down to the stop sign and back. Being 14 and in good shape, I honestly thought this would be no problem. It was probably 2 1/2 total miles of which I ran maybe a total of a mile and walked the rest. That was my first gigantic helping of humble pie.
I remember getting back out there the next day and making little deals with myself: I'd run to that mailbox and then walk to the light pole and then run to the red mailbox and then walk to the garbage can. The thing about runners is that they're the most goal oriented people you'll ever meet. At 14, running started to teach me about setting goals and then crushing them. I didn't walk to that first light pole, I ran. I didn't walk between the red mailbox and garbage can, I ran. I wanted to walk, but something inside me fought through the discomfort. That is how I started to build my endurance, my mental toughness and myself.
Running and I have been through a lot together. We've gotten in a few spats, shared a few laughs, had some dysfunction, had some injuries but we always stick together. We conquer the next hill and the next mile laid out before us. Running is almost always right: nobody ever regrets going for a run; you regret the one's you don't go on. Rain, sleet, snow, wind, a perfect spring morning, the smell of cherry blossoms. A sunrise so spectacular and the simple sound of your running shoes hitting the pavement to soothe and quiet your mind. The smell of a new pair of running shoes. Ahhhhh, that smell.
I'm not sure what kind of person I'd be if I ever broke up with my first love. I never want to find out.
